


Ignition

by the_void_fox



Series: Keith Week 2016 [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aliens, Gen, Implied/Referenced Murder, Keith is a sad child, Original Character(s), Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-09-29
Packaged: 2018-08-18 10:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8159207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_void_fox/pseuds/the_void_fox
Summary: Day 4: FireThe universe depends on it. Keith can’t afford to fear any longer.





	

Keith knows that something is off the moment he wakes up. There is a strange smell in the air, and it takes him a moment to understand why he’s shivering. The memory knocks at the entrance to his mind and quietly slides itself under the door as he realises that he’s lying half-under the control panels, thrown from the pilot’s chair. Someone really needed to talk to Coran about installing safety belts.

 

Red was down, unresponsive after they’d crashed onto a tiny ice-ridden planet during a firefight, frying her communications. That still didn’t explain the smell, but he supposed it could wait until he’d tried to contact the others. Red’s systems were fried, but hopefully his helmet wasn’t damaged, wherever it was.

 

He shifts, planning to search the cockpit, but curls up in agony as shards of pain make themselves known all over his battered body. His vision whites out for a minute, and Keith thinks he might be crying for his teammates, but it’s a little hard to tell through the haze. He crawls, inch by awful inch, to where a first-aid kit sits inside a locker next to the built-in bunk. Hauling himself onto the mattress, he digs through the metal box and finds the alien-strength painkiller they are only supposed to use in dire situations because of its effects. His hand is shaking, and he fumbles with the cap of the injector pen, not caring as it clatters to the floor and rolls away.

 

Sucking in a breath, Keith stabs the pen through his torn undersuit into his side, where the worst of the pain is, and begins to shed his armour plating, pulling on warmer, more comfortable clothing. It’s a long, excruciating process, but the numbing injection soon begins to kick in, dulling the ache in his side to a faint buzz.

 

Keith knows he needs to bandage his wounds, call for help, find out where he is – he’s already lost a lot of blood – but he’s just so tired…

 

\---

 

  _… come…_

Keith stirs as the voice invades his unconscious mind, prodding him awake, and lets out a groan of discomfort.

 

_… come to us, child…_

_… you must live; many lives depend on it…_

_… come…_

 

Like one in a dream, Keith rises to his feet, eyes glazed. As if on autopilot, he gathers his essential equipment and steps out onto the ice. The strange smell invades his nostrils again, and through the haze he tries to identify it. It’s like petrichor and charcoal, with a hint of all the spices in the universe, burning at the back of his throat.

 

_… quickly, little one…_

_… you will freeze…_

\---

 

There is a cave, flickering white torches leading the way into its depths. Keith moves through the tunnels in a trance, only vaguely aware of his surroundings. There are carvings, strangely familiar, along the walls. They glow a deep red, and a memory flashes before his eyes. **_“… they’ve never done that before…”_** The cold recedes as he moves deeper, emerging into a wide arched cavern, torches lighting its furthest corner.

 

_… hello, child…_

_… we have awaited your coming for many years…_

 

‘Who are you?’

 

_… we are those who gave the red lion its power…_

_… we are the keepers of the spirit flame and we have a gift for you…_

_… but first, there is a fear holding you back…_

_… you must challenge it and claim your destiny as the guardian spirit of fire…_

 

Keith watches in amazement as the nearest torch flickers, the flame growing larger as it becomes a vaguely humanoid shape about the size of a human toddler, wisps of white smoke fluttering as it moves towards him.

 

 _… remember…_ it whispers, holding out a hand, its large glimmering eyes, like rubies, searching Keith’s. _… face your past, and heal…_

… _do not be afraid…_

 

Memories, so many memories, whirl through his mind fragmented and unbidden: the sound of a gunshot; a woman crying out over the sound of breaking glass; the smell of gasoline and burning flesh and a child’s desperate wail as he was whisked away by a brave neighbour. Keith crumples to the ground as the old pain resurfaces, and he sobs his lonely heart out in the flickering light, thousands of space miles away from the bad places of his stolen childhood.

 

No. He will not fear any longer. He is the red paladin now, and his past does not define him.

 

Keith’s tears peter out, and he dares to uncurl himself from the ball of safety he has placed himself in. The fire creature is still hovering nearby, and he would swear it is smiling, though it has no real face aside from the jewel-bright eyes.

 

 _… you are brave, little one…_ comes the soft voice, and it carries such warmth and safety that the red paladin cannot help but smile back. _… you have allowed yourself to begin healing…_

_… this is an important step in becoming a powerful warrior …_

_… and now, your gift…_

 

The hollow place in Keith’s chest, the draining void that used to eat at him, make him think only of his worthlessness and anger, is gone. In its place is a ball of light, and he feels new strength flow through his quivering limbs. ‘What…’

 

_… here is the power to control what feeds your fear…_

_… like the others in your team, you will master your element in time…_

_… and Voltron will save us all…_

 

\---

 

Keith doesn’t remember leaving the cave, or which direction it may be in when he suddenly finds himself next to his lion, having apparently trance-walked his way back. He’s shivering again, the biting wind of the planet going straight through his ripped undersuit. He suddenly recalls the words of the flame creature, and focuses on the new bright spot inside his chest.

 

Crackling embers flicker in his hands and lick through his dark hair, white on black, and the red paladin’s heart swells with sunglow and lightning and something like pride.

 

The fire can’t hurt him anymore.

 

Keith has never felt so alive.

**Author's Note:**

> The next few stories might be a little late as I am moving house, but rest assured I am writing them and they will be posted as soon as possible.


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